The influence of perceived management skills and perceived gender discrimination in launch decisions by women entrepreneurs

Our study answers the call for a better understanding of female entrepreneurs in Morocco and the role families play in launch decisions. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of perceived management skills and perceived gender discrimination in obtaining funds on women entrepreneurs’ propensity to start their businesses with or without family members. Drawing upon the family embeddedness and institutional economics theoretical frameworks, perceived high management capabilities are found to increase the likelihood that a female entrepreneur will set up her business with family members. However, when the entrepreneur perceives gender discrimination in obtaining funds, this will negatively moderate this relationship and will make it more likely that a woman will start her business alone or with nonrelatives. This research contributes to the literature by advancing knowledge of the socio-cultural factors, embedded in the family-oriented contextual framework, that affect women entrepreneurs’ ways of starting their businesses. Implications affecting the success of women-owned start-up businesses and public policy implications are discussed